In Defense of the Orphan Kit

Nick Gordon

July 07 2016

A so-called "orphan" drumkit is a collection of different drums assembled together to form a unique percussive battle station. Once made fun of as the necessity of the poor, piecing together a Frankenstein drum kit is now a pursuit of the uber-imaginative player; an individual, an artiste. The Beat salutes these brave men and women who dare to go it alone. Piecing together your own orphan kit is a great way to assemble a vintage kit you might not be able to afford otherwise, and it's a way to make your individual drum sound unique. It's easy to find orphan drums at garage sales, online, and at drum shops. Scoring orphans is something fun to do while you tour and orphan drums are the ultimate impulse buy. The quickest way to owning a round badge kit? Orphans. Is mixing up different colored sparkle drums a cool thing to do? Hell f'in yeah it is. Who says? Us.

The one pictured is courtesy of Vintage Drum forum user Andy aka FayRay. According to our man Andy, this one is a "1930s(?) Carlton 18" Marching Tenor with clamp on cowbell holders for spurs, 1960s Premier Marching snare converted to 14" FT and a no name MIJ 12" tom."

Send us a photo of your orphan kit and we'll pick a few to feature online.